INSIGHT

Part II: Five Critical Brand Values

An excerpt from the is + at Branding Playbook.

 

An organization’s worth is based on the value found in many areas, including customers’ perceptions, financial performance, capabilities, and market share. However, in many instances, there is a value that is often overlooked, even though it factors significantly in the success of the company’s ability to prosper and grow: brand value.

 
A brand provides differentiation from the competition, builds equity, saves time and creates efficiencies, engenders trust and loyalty, and guides organizations as they change and grow
 

  1. A brand provides differentiation from the competition.
    The brand can quickly differentiate a company or product. Articulating the perceived roots of this differentiation will help to guide audiences toward positive perceptions, and ultimately, a decision to choose one product/service/partner over the others..

  2. A brand builds equity.
    Brand equity is derived from consumer perceptions, and such perceptions do not take shape overnight. With careful control and attention over time, a brand’s reputation becomes clear and memorable. This is critical to approaching marketing, as there may already be significant equity to build upon and, equally so, significant equity to lose.

  3. A brand saves time and creates efficiencies.
    By defining and honing a brand, voice, communication style, visual identity, and core messaging can stay ahead of marketplace conjecture and help to shape positive marketplace perceptions overall. Expressing a brand in advance requires less effort and energy than correcting misinterpretations and misrepresentations later.

  4. A brand engenders trust and can build loyalty.
    Trust and loyalty. These are two of the greatest intangible assets. They can be protected and preserved when a company focuses on four principles: quality, consistency, transparency, and mutuality.

  5. A brand guides organizations as they change and grow.
    The foundation of a brand begins with a purpose and a vision. Clearly defining these elements will allow the brand itself to serve as a lodestar, maintaining a track of integrity through often tidal, and sometimes unpredictable, market forces.

Brand value is at its most volatile during and immediately after market entry, viable new competition, and crisis. Defining and articulating it is essential to every stakeholder – and every customer.

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The branding experts at is + at created the most concise branding playbook ever designed. This is Part I of our four part series, excerpted from the playbook. It is intended to help our clients grasp the core concepts behind, and reasons for, a (re)brand. Continue to Part III here.